The concert “changed how people thought about jazz,” said CJO artistic director Byron
Stripling.

In those days, some thought it blasphemous to hear a swing band in a concert hall, he said.
However, the first jazz concert in that great building opened ears to an American art form, and
Goodman’s racially integrated big band opened some minds.

Peplowski, who played saxophone in Goodman’s last band circa 1985, led the CJO during the first
half of the concert and played the clarinet. His smooth sound danced on
Don’t Be That Way and
Sometimes I’m Happy; his tone got more ornery on
One O’Clock Jump. On a terrific version of
Sing Sing Sing, Peplowski reminded one of a snake charmer coaxing a cobra out of a basket
as Bob Breithaupt blasted out the primal beat.

Other first-half highlights included the sinewy
Life Goes to a Party, the fun
Blue Room, trombonist Jim Masters’ singing of
Rosetta and a rare solo by trumpeter Wes Orr.

Goodman was “a tough band leader” who was complicated but had a generous side, Peplowski told
the audience. “He was so obsessed with music that he was like an absent-minded professor,”
forgetting his own singers’ names, Peplowski said. And the King of Swing often fired musicians who
didn’t meet his standards.

The second half was even better, starting with Stripling and the CJO blaring away on
Bugle Call Rag.

Skonberg, a young trumpeter and singer from Chilliwack, British Columbia, immediately made a
statement on
And the Angels Sing and
Love Me or Leave Me. Another surprise was a fine version of the traditional Scottish song
The Bonnie Banks O’ the Loch Lomond. Skonberg said she was influenced by Dixieland, but
this rising star’s voice and trumpet playing were soulful.

Best of all was Chad Eby’s big-band arrangement of Skonberg’s
So Is the Day, the title track of her debut American album. Playing the horn with a
plunger, Skonberg sounded mournful as she sang of a love she can’t have.